SPRINGDALE -- Josh Stephens is thankful to take the field and compete every day, especially after his baseball career was almost lost.
Stephens missed his junior season at Springdale Har-Ber because of a serious injury to his back. Stephens was placed in a full body cast for awhile and was restricted in his movements for more than 10 weeks. Eventually, he regained his health and he was allowed to return to the team for his senior season.
Profile
SCHOOL: Springdale Har-Ber
CLASS: Senior
POSITION: Shortstop, pitcher
HEIGHT: 5-9
WEIGHT: 170
NOTABLE: Has returned for his senior season after missing last year with a serious back injury. …. batting .257 as starting shortstop and 2-2 with 2 saves as a relief pitcher. … Transferred from Shiloh Christian before start of his junior year.
"Not sure when it happened, but I broke the bottom vertebrate on both sides," Stephens said. "It felt like a knife in my back and I finally went to the doctor, who said one side was a fresh break and the other side had been broken for about two years. I'm lucky and very thankful to be out here playing again."
Stephens is making the best of a second opportunity as a shortstop and relief pitcher for the Wildcats. He's batting .257 with 4 doubles and 22 RBIs at the plate and he's 2-2 with 2 saves and a 1.62 ERA as a pitcher.
Stephens will be counted on even more after the loss of junior Brady Patrick, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament while running to first against Fayetteville and is likely out for the season. The Wildcats have also played most of the year without center fielder Zach Stanley, who had surgery on his thumb after he dove for a ball during a tournament game in Alabama.
"Josh has been the glue that's held us together this year with all the injures we've suffered," Har-Ber first-year coach Ron Bradley said. "He's our go-to guy, not only at shortstop but as a reliever out of the bullpen in the late innings. He makes all the plays at shortstop and sets the tone as a quiet leader for this team. He's having a real good senior year and he's going to be a solid college player."
Har-Ber (18-7, 6-4 7A-West) was on a roll with consecutive sweeps over Fort Smith Southside and Fort Smith Northside when it met league-leading Fayetteville last week. Fayetteville answered the challenge and beat the Wildcats 8-3 and 3-2 to extend its conference winning streak to 39 consecutive games.
Fayetteville dominated the opener and won the second game when pitcher Kurt Phillips hit a batter with the bases loaded to force in a run. Har-Ber will return to 7A-West Conference action on Thursday against Rogers High after league teams take today off.
"Our emotions were high for Fayetteville and we gave ourselves a chance to win the second game," Stephens said. "It's a good time to take a break and refresh our minds and body. The crucial part of the season is coming up and we've got to be ready to go."
Regardless of how the Wildcats finish, Stephens said he is pleased he made the move to Har-Ber when he transferred from Shiloh Christian two years ago.
"I was attracted to Har-Ber by the academic side. It just wasn't baseball," Stephens said. "They have a lot of different classes and a wide variety of options to choose from. I took a construction class last year and they have more advance classes building houses, actually. That's something I'm really interested in."
Sports on 04/28/2015